Q/A:
Q: What is diethyl ether?
A: It was used as a general anesthetic before the advent of safer, non-flammable anesthetics such as halothane. It's also used as a recreational drug today.
Q: Is this illegal?
A: No. Diethyl ether is not a controlled substance in most jurisdictions.
Q: Then can't I just buy it online?
A: Likely not. Most suppliers will only provide this substance to laboratories and chemical manufacturers due to its dangerous nature.
Q: Is this dangerous?
A: Yes. Diethyl ether is *extremely* flammable, so don't light any fires around it and make sure you ground its containers before handling it or transferring it from one container to another, since even static electricity might cause it to ignite. Additionally, sulfuric acid is extremely dangerous and MUST be handled with care.
Q: What can I do with this?
A: Use your imagination. I won't be responsible for anything you decide to do with it, and I'm not liable if you don't take the proper safety precautions and start a fire.
Q: Why do I need a distillation setup? Can't I do it with a simple flask?
A: The reaction between ethanol and sulfuric acid is an equilibrium reaction, so it will not exhaust the sulfuric acid and ethanol. We need to distill the resulting mixture to extract the diethyl ether from it and leave the undesirable sulfuric acid behind.
Steps:
0. Please read all the steps before starting so that you don't have to quit midway if you can't get over a step.
1. Get a distillation setup. One of the flasks should preferably be two or three-mouthed. If you don't have one readily available at hand, parts should be easy to acquire from amazon (or your country's equivalent) albeit they might be a bit expensive. Don't forget to run cold water through the cooling inlet and outlet of the condenser. Make sure you cover all the mouths of your flask.
2. Get pure sulfuric acid and anhydrous ethanol.
3. Add sulfuric acid to the larger, multi-mouthed flask. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WHILE HANDLING SULFURIC ACID. ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES WHILE WORKING WITH IT AND THOROUGHLY WASH YOUR HANDS AFTERWARDS. IF YOU SPILL A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT ON YOURSELF, IMMEDIATELY CALL AN AMBULANCE.
4. Slowly add ethanol (preferably with a dropping funnel) to the sulfuric acid and heat the mixture to between 140-150C (284-302F) It's important that you keep the mixture between those temperatures. If you go below 140C, the reaction will be *extremely* slow (won't finish in your lifetime levels of slow) and if you go above 150C, you'll get ethylene gas.
5. Monitor the temperature regularly and make sure it stays between the desired values. Eventually the collection flask should start filling with a clear liquid, this is crude diethyl ether. Be patient with this, though do be concerned if you get nothing after 90 minutes or so. Be very careful with it as I said above, lest you start a fire. If you do, immediately get a fire extinguisher (Foam, CO2 or ABC powder types, NOT wet chemical or water) and put it out or call the fire department if it gets out of hand. Don't pour water on it, since it's a liquid fire; instead, try depriving it of oxygen with something like a blanket.
6. Store the end product in a sealed glass bottle. Again, be careful while handling diethly ether and ground the flask and the container you'll store the end product in to ensure static electricity does not start a fire.
Additional disclaimers:
-Contemporary media depictions of crude anesthetics show rags soaked in the crude anesthetic almost immediately causing a blackout once applied to "your" mouth. If you do decide to apply this to "yourself," you'll find that this will not work and "you" might start resisting. Use a stun gun on "yourself" and apply the rag for a couple minutes to ensure a blackout occurs. Enjoy your "deep sleep."
-Don't keep crude diethyl ether around for too long since it might get peroxide contamination.
Q: What is diethyl ether?
A: It was used as a general anesthetic before the advent of safer, non-flammable anesthetics such as halothane. It's also used as a recreational drug today.
Q: Is this illegal?
A: No. Diethyl ether is not a controlled substance in most jurisdictions.
Q: Then can't I just buy it online?
A: Likely not. Most suppliers will only provide this substance to laboratories and chemical manufacturers due to its dangerous nature.
Q: Is this dangerous?
A: Yes. Diethyl ether is *extremely* flammable, so don't light any fires around it and make sure you ground its containers before handling it or transferring it from one container to another, since even static electricity might cause it to ignite. Additionally, sulfuric acid is extremely dangerous and MUST be handled with care.
Q: What can I do with this?
A: Use your imagination. I won't be responsible for anything you decide to do with it, and I'm not liable if you don't take the proper safety precautions and start a fire.
Q: Why do I need a distillation setup? Can't I do it with a simple flask?
A: The reaction between ethanol and sulfuric acid is an equilibrium reaction, so it will not exhaust the sulfuric acid and ethanol. We need to distill the resulting mixture to extract the diethyl ether from it and leave the undesirable sulfuric acid behind.
Steps:
0. Please read all the steps before starting so that you don't have to quit midway if you can't get over a step.
1. Get a distillation setup. One of the flasks should preferably be two or three-mouthed. If you don't have one readily available at hand, parts should be easy to acquire from amazon (or your country's equivalent) albeit they might be a bit expensive. Don't forget to run cold water through the cooling inlet and outlet of the condenser. Make sure you cover all the mouths of your flask.
2. Get pure sulfuric acid and anhydrous ethanol.
3. Add sulfuric acid to the larger, multi-mouthed flask. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WHILE HANDLING SULFURIC ACID. ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES WHILE WORKING WITH IT AND THOROUGHLY WASH YOUR HANDS AFTERWARDS. IF YOU SPILL A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT ON YOURSELF, IMMEDIATELY CALL AN AMBULANCE.
4. Slowly add ethanol (preferably with a dropping funnel) to the sulfuric acid and heat the mixture to between 140-150C (284-302F) It's important that you keep the mixture between those temperatures. If you go below 140C, the reaction will be *extremely* slow (won't finish in your lifetime levels of slow) and if you go above 150C, you'll get ethylene gas.
5. Monitor the temperature regularly and make sure it stays between the desired values. Eventually the collection flask should start filling with a clear liquid, this is crude diethyl ether. Be patient with this, though do be concerned if you get nothing after 90 minutes or so. Be very careful with it as I said above, lest you start a fire. If you do, immediately get a fire extinguisher (Foam, CO2 or ABC powder types, NOT wet chemical or water) and put it out or call the fire department if it gets out of hand. Don't pour water on it, since it's a liquid fire; instead, try depriving it of oxygen with something like a blanket.
6. Store the end product in a sealed glass bottle. Again, be careful while handling diethly ether and ground the flask and the container you'll store the end product in to ensure static electricity does not start a fire.
Additional disclaimers:
-Contemporary media depictions of crude anesthetics show rags soaked in the crude anesthetic almost immediately causing a blackout once applied to "your" mouth. If you do decide to apply this to "yourself," you'll find that this will not work and "you" might start resisting. Use a stun gun on "yourself" and apply the rag for a couple minutes to ensure a blackout occurs. Enjoy your "deep sleep."
-Don't keep crude diethyl ether around for too long since it might get peroxide contamination.
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